July 11, 2009 - Today I set off on the The Prouty in the morning at 5:15am. I was paired up with a riding partner. This is a first time I've ever rode with someone during this event.
About 8 miles into the ride I touched the rear wheel of the rider in front of me with my front tire and I lost my balance and went down. I went down hard. I was the only one that went down, which it good because I did something real dumb and I learned my lesson.
I didn't loose consciousness but I took a moment to recover from getting the wind knocked out of me. After I got up I couldn't move my right arm. I ended up with a crack when I tried to raise it (thinking that I dislocated my shoulder but popped it back in). I lost all strength in my arm. I had strength in my hand and lower arm, but I couldn't raise my arm up on it's own.
I got back on my bike and rode 2 miles to the first SAG stop in Lyme. They weren't even set up yet, but they had they're first accident victim, ME! Dan my partner for the day stood with me until Kim another team member showed up, with ADVIL, that helped a lot. I was tearing up with a lost hope and pride of doing and finishing The Prouty. I'd been training since February. It was a very emotional day for me, even before 7am. I ended up being driven to my car and then I drove myself to the ED at Dartmouth-Hitchcock. The pain from my injury was very real now.
At the emergency department, x-rays were done and after 3 hours in a bed - on & off snoozing, I got my diagnosis. I have a "proximal humerus fracture" at the top on my shoulder. Looking at the x-rays it seems I have 3 fractures near the ball joint of my shoulder. I was given a sling and was told a few basic instructions, because this is the first time I broke a bone, and was sent on my way with a pain medication prescription.
Boy I'm scared. I'm thinking how am I going to work, change my clothes, even wash the dishes. I survived; it could have been a lot worse. Only one section of my arm isn't working...I can still type, and hang on to things with my right arm. I'm trying to keep my shoulder still and hoping for a quick recovery. I thank both Dan and Kim from my team, Chain Reaction for staying with me and giving me support that I needed for this scary time in the EMT tent. Thank you to Tom the EMT at the Lyme SAG stop for keeping me calm and talking to me about mountain biking and making sure I was alright.
So for the next few weeks of my recovery, we'll be discovering places where I can visit with a broken shoulder. This is all new for me.
Monday, July 13, 2009
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